I suspect the Prime Minister is lying to you. This may come as no surprise, but lying your way to war, even a little one, is an order of magnitude more serious than simply lying your way into office and out of your promises. Some lies lead only to disappointment, perhaps to resentment. Some lead to violence and tragedy and death.

52 Responses to ‘Lights, camera, Abbott and ISIS’

BigWillieStyle is gonna tell you...

Posted September 23, 2014

I just got back from the Daily Telegraph's website. You should read the communters on there. The Prime Minister must allow Aussie families to arm themselves!! We must take our country back by any means necessary!! Death to Lefties!!

It's those sort of people that scare me, frankly.

insomniac puts forth...

Posted September 23, 2014

I hope you hosed yourself down before coming here - infection control and all that. That stuff's worse than Ebola.

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Posted September 23, 2014

That just about sums up the way I'm feeling about all this. Thanks. I despair about this country. I think we must be the stupidest, most easily manipulated people in the world. Now watch Abbott's poll ratings go through the roof.

libber8 reckons...

Posted September 23, 2014

No i think we come second. America would be the most manipluated country in the world forllowed by AUS

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JBtoo puts forth...

Posted September 23, 2014

Thanks JB. It has been heartening to hear a few voices of reason breaking through the bullshit, although I fear it is pissing into the hurricane of newscorpse and shock jocks.

Good to know about Daesh; now back to the bacon and educating my niece.

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Posted September 23, 2014

This is related but not really germane to the topic at Blunty and I'd hate to make unrelated comments over there when every one is so focused and reasonable.

All the social media and news gathering tools I employ, the comments by friends and things work colleagues say seem to surround me with an impression that most see the actions of this government for what they are a desperate attempt to distract the voters so they can drive their ideological stake into the heart of the welfare state. I get the occasional comment on Facebook, or post on blunty but on the whole it seems people see through it.

But I worry that I am living in a bubble and the vast majority do believe this is all true. I wonder if it wasn't better for my perception of reality when the only point of view available was that provided by the old press and I had to face the fact that people supported these sorts of ideas.

No solution just wondering if I was more drenched in the day to day of the mainstream media I might be more terrified, not of Daesh but that the Liberal party will be re-elected.

Penley swirls their brandy and claims...

Posted September 23, 2014

You are not alone. I don't really know anyone at all who believes all this national security bullshit. It just seems like fear-mongering 101:how to hoodwink your nation when the polls are down. But then, I now have it on good authority that all the ladies at mum's golf club (not my Mum the greenie though thank god) think Abbott is doing a swell job and we should all be a lot more scared of getting beheaded down at the Corinda Coles. Sigh...

Halwes reckons...

Posted September 23, 2014

I live remotely in the bush and only read the SMH and this blog for news. We can pick up the ABC though. I came here because of Mr Birminghams writing, the effect that it has had on me for many years and the insightful ideas he proposes. You can go a bit troppo out here and become very insular if you aren't careful. For a fair while, if I couldn't fish it, fight it or fck it, I just wasn't interested in it at all. This made me even more boring than I already was. I have only ever commented on this blog. My reason is that this is great community of real thinkers, yes even Dino, and, when I'm wrong / deluded / mistaken then someone points it out. This allows me to get a handle on world events, especially through the insights of our foreign brethren, and adjust my thinking without having to engage with the far right wing. I think that is the difference between us and them. We think and adapt while they just believe. I hear it's a lot easier that way but when I look at the depths to which this country has descended I believe that the only hope is with the thinkers.

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Posted September 23, 2014

I did a FB post yesterday about this issue, but it wasn't half as interesting, well 2 likes and a friend asking if I was drunk posting(being Monday then its a no) "Actually Toned Abs I don't want my freedom curtailed for your political expedience. You fascist prick. And Bill Shorten can f off too."

Hopefully social media can help everyone see through their silly 1970s PR scheme. Maybe they might update their advertising and cover themselves in luminous green and yellow glory 80s style.

BigWillieStyle mutters...

Posted September 23, 2014

Yeah, friggen' Shorten. Man's got about as much credibility as does Toned Abs. Seems to stand for nothing apart from doing whatever's in his best interests. "I'm for Gillard", "No, I'm for Rudd", "The Prime Minister rides a girl's bike", "I will give my support to the Prime Minister on this one because, hey, I don't mind dog-whistling if it means people might vote for me". Jesus wept.

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Posted September 23, 2014

Oh and that bit about bogans is spot on, no wonder they got busted. Being dickheads. Bogans, either your muslim type or dyed in the wool white trash type in Bridgewater or Chigwell, just can't keep their fat mouths shut at the best of times.

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Sending airforce and spec ops over there is to provide footage of our guys 'n gals in action for prime time news items and longer pieces with embeds for 60 Minutes etc.. Apparently war type footage rates well and moves the votes further to the right. Beardy nutjobs with Brit accents lopping off heads on the internet? Sells more papers and advertising revenue for the media owners.

Posted September 23, 2014

Therbs asserts...

Because we're fkn idiots and a lot of people eat his fkn bullshit for breakfast and don't question it. It's a lot easier to confect a security issue and point blame at beardy nutjobs than deal with serious internal shit.

John Birmingham mumbles...

Bondiboy66 has opinions thus...

Posted September 23, 2014

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Posted September 23, 2014

The beauty of democracy is that there's a great system to readily replace politicians when something unfortunate happens to them. The politicians seem to forget that they are an entirely replaceable component. If a small asteroid landed on Canberra while parliament was in session, Australia would survive. We'd weep for those worth weeping about. Then we'd elect a new set of politicians to govern the country.

Parliament House was designed and sold as a "peoples house". What it's rapidly becoming is a fortress that protects a political class that isn't even worthy of the nation's contempt.

We've got far more of a chance of being killed in a road accident going down to Coles than we have by a nutter taking iPhone video wanting to decapitate us so that Google can sell a few more advertisements on YouTube.

John Birmingham swirls their brandy and claims...

Damn, I'm gonna have to delete this comment so everyone thinks I came up with it.

Blarkon would have you know...

Posted September 23, 2014

It's interesting isn't it that armed forces personnel are assumed to be willing to lay their lives in the line for the country as part of the job.

The lives of politicians (the ones that would tell those armed forces personnel to go and fight in some foreign death zone) on the other hand are apparently so precious that they need to be provided with a level of security unavailable to all but the richest Australians.

It takes years to train up someone in the armed forces. By design, anyone can be a member of parliament.

Which of these two is more expensive to replace?

Sudragon swirls their brandy and claims...

Posted September 23, 2014

I'm in favor of arming our politicians. But then again, I'm also in favor of shock collars on politicians, for direct feedback from the electorate.

DiddyWrote would have you know...

Posted September 23, 2014

Thank you Blarkon, you have just succinctly punctured the enormous bullshit balloon that Abbott and co have been desperately inflating in the last few months.

Excellent.

DiddyWrote mumbles...

Posted September 23, 2014

Thank you Blarkon, you have just succinctly punctured the enormous bullshit balloon that Abbott and co have been desperately inflating in the last few months.

Excellent.

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Posted September 23, 2014

I have a 'but', though-

Some people there are really probably scared of a terror act happening down there. It's not, obviously, a good thing to go through. We've been there. Comes to people wanting to do us harm, I want to be thumping them on their turf, not on mine. But I think we here all get that. I don't think that makes that segment of the population 'sheeple', or whatever pejorative you prefer.

That said, we also all know that famous story about the boy who cried 'wolf'. A government has maybe one or two of these 'threats' before EVERYONE says 'You guys leading us are full of crap'. Then something bad really DOES happen and it's a tragedy because no one paid attention because, hey, Abbott's said all this before...

Eh, who knows? Been a long time since I rambled on too much on the 'Burger, so maybe I'll just slink back to my seat in the corner.

insomniac puts forth...

Posted September 23, 2014

There's a segment of the population who are genuinely terrified by terrorists regardless of current events, and then there's a segment of the population who are terrified because Tony told them to be. The first group get caught up in Tony's rhetoric that's used to achieve the aim for the second group, which makes Tony and his cronies a bunch of dicks.

yankeedog is gonna tell you...

Posted September 23, 2014

Hit 'er on the head, insomniac. One thing I haven't really heard from anyone in the government there is any sort of reassurance. Sounds like a lot of fear-mongering emanating from officialdom down there. That in itself is not good-makes the government's position look weak.

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Posted September 23, 2014

John, I suspect you might receive a knock on the door in the next few days. An unsmiling George Brandis and a couple of brown-shirted henchmen. After George administers one of those memory-erasing things like they used in Men In Black, he'll personally blu-tac his DNA to your metadata, and will thereafter track your every move. While being sure to make time each day for stroking his fluffy white cat, evil genius-style, and horsewhipping his factory full of unwed, Muslim, dole-bludging, non-LNP-voting, climate change alarmists.

Bunyip mutters...

Posted September 23, 2014

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Posted September 23, 2014

I think that you just nailed it JBtoo. My wife and I were at the opera house for a play when we were in Sydney last year. We were dressed OK and didn't stand out but I was nervous and uncomfortable. I put it down to being in the city and all the people there but I was not happy. I told my wife how I felt and left it at that. A few days later we went to Penrith trots. I felt comfortable, calm and happy and told her that too. She replied with some prophetic words. "That's because these are our people" she said and I understood immediately.

pi ducks in to say...

Posted September 23, 2014

I'd feel pretty comfortable at both places Halwes. Which (If you don't mind me saying so) also says something pretty important. There's along way for Oz to slide before it gets to the type of segregation that many places apparently enjoy.

NBlob swirls their brandy and claims...

Posted September 23, 2014

Pi to two places ?

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Edward swirls their brandy and claims...

Posted September 24, 2014

Abbott was salivating at the thought of sending our people to Iraq, giving a virtual commitment before his boss in Washington told him to press the go button. He missed out in getting involved in the Ukraine so I guess ISIS will have to do. Notice his countenance is getting darker and furrowed, with a 1000 yard stare, a sign of a mind in lockout of reality.

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Posted September 24, 2014

We seem largely agreed this is a piece of security theatre aimed a directing Joe & Wendy Sixpack-Homemaker's attention away from Mr Rabbit's less than stellar performance on other fronts.

I was pondering the actual damage Hockey's hippolites have done to our institutions (those described by His Scaliness above, CSIRO, Climate Authority et al), the Real Peril of AGCC VS the potential damage of Beardy Nutters.

But I also wonder if there is a grim sort of threat assessment where If (I think it very very very unlikely) but if some Beardy Nutters were to hypothetically mount a Mumbai 26/11/08 type assault on Sydney, the spin kings believe that to have done Something (highly publicised raids & new anti terror bills) better than to be perceived to have done nothing.

I heard a podcast recently describing the inability to facilitate former allies in Iraq & the Stan migrating to the US, despite there being specific visa categories available. It seemed that nobody @ immigration was prepared to have their signature approving an application by Mr Beard, despite the applicant having proved conclusively & repeatedly to be on The Good Guy's side, Just in case Mr Beard gets shooty